Graphical user interface system for a thermal comfort controller

ABSTRACT

A graphical user interface system for a thermal comfort controller. The user interface system has a central processing unit coupled to a memory and a touch sensitive display unit. The memory stores a temperature schedule data structure and perhaps a temperature history data structure. The temperature schedule data structure is made up of at least one set-point. The temperature history data structure is made up of at least one Actual-Temperature-Point. The display presents the set-points and/or the Actual-Temperature-Points. One representation of the display is a graphical step-function. The user uses a finger or stylus to program the set-points by pointing and dragging a portion of the step-function.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/453,027, filed Jun. 3, 2003, entitled “GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACESYSTEM FOR A THERMAL COMFORT CONTROLLER” which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/697,633, filed Oct. 26, 2000, now U.S.Pat. No. 6,595,430, entitled, “GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE SYSTEM FOR ATHERMAL COMFORT CONTROLLER”.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to thermostats and other thermal comfortcontrollers and particularly to a graphical user interface for suchthermal comfort controllers.

Current thermal comfort controllers, or thermostats, have a limited userinterface which typically includes a number of data input buttons and asmall display. Hereinafter, the term thermostat will be used toreference a general comfort control device and is not to be limiting inany way. For example, in addition to traditional thermostats, thepresent such control device could be a humidistat or used for ventingcontrol. As is well known, thermostats often have setback capabilitieswhich involves a programmed temperature schedule. Such a schedule ismade up of a series of time-scheduled set-points. Each set-pointincludes a desired temperature and a desired time. Once programmed withthis temperature schedule, the controller sets-up or sets-back thetemperature accordingly. For example, a temperature schedule could beprogrammed so that in the winter months, a house is warmed to 72 degreesautomatically at 6:00 a.m. when the family awakes, cools to 60 degreesduring the day while the family is at work and at school, re-warms to 72degrees at 4:00 p.m. and then cools a final time to 60 degrees after11:00 p.m., while the family is sleeping. Such a schedule of lowertemperatures during off-peak hours saves energy costs.

It is well known that users have difficulty using the current form of auser interface for thermostats because such an interface is notintuitive and is somewhat complicated to use. Therefore, users either donot utilize the energy saving programmable functions of the controller,or they do not change the schedule that is programmed by either theinstaller or that is the factory default setting.

Another limitation of the current user interfaces for thermostats isthat once programmed, the temperature schedule cannot be easilyreviewed. Usually, the display is configured to show one set-point at atime in a numerical manner. Using the input buttons, the user must ‘pageforward’ to the next set-point in the schedule or ‘page backward’ to theprevious set-point.

Although the user can, with difficulty, determine the temperatureschedule that is programmed into the controller, the user cannotdetermine how closely this temperature schedule was followed. Of course,when a new set-point determines that the controller should either raiseor lower the temperature in a house or other building, the temperaturedoes not immediately change to that new temperature. It can take sometime for the room or building to warm up or cool down to the desiredtemperature. The thermostat typically tracks this information to allowadjustment to be easily made. At present, the user has no way of viewingthis information and no way of correlating the temperature schedule withactual house temperatures.

What is needed in the art is a user interface for a thermostat in whichthe temperature schedule is more easily programmed. The user interfaceshould display a more user friendly representation of the schedule sothat the user can review an entire day's schedule all at once. The userinterface should also easily display alternative schedules, such as aweekend and weekday schedule. Further, the graphical representationshould itself be the intuitive means to programming the schedule. Theuser interface should also be able to compare the temperature scheduleagainst the actual historical temperature over a period of time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention can be regarded as a graphical user interface system forthermal comfort controllers. In some embodiments, the user interfacesystem is mounted on the wall as part of a thermostat. In otherembodiments, the user interface system is a hand held computing unitwhich interfaces with a thermostat located elsewhere. The user interfacesystem includes a central processing unit, a memory and a display with atouch-sensitive screen used for input. The memory stores at least onetemperature schedule. The temperature schedule has at least oneset-point, which associates a desired temperature to a desired time. Thedisplay graphically represents the temperature schedule and allows theuser to easily and intuitively program the temperature schedule. Thetemperature schedule may be displayed as a step-function graph, as alisting of set-points, or as a clock and temperature control (such as adial). In some embodiments, the display can also graphically representthe actual temperature history compared to the desired temperatureschedule. In other embodiments, the temperature schedule can bedisplayed and changed in other graphical ways, such as with slider orscroll bar controls.

Several objects and advantages of the present invention include: thetemperature schedule is more easily programmed than in past userinterfaces; the step-function or other display is more informative andintuitive; historical data can be displayed to the user; and multipleschedules can be programmed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a user interface system for a thermalcomfort controller.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the user interface system in anembodiment with a stylus.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a user interface system for a thermostat orother comfort controller. Throughout the drawings, an attempt has beenmade to label corresponding elements with the same reference numbers.The reference numbers include:

Reference Number Description 100 Central Processing Unit 200 DisplayUnit 205 Axis denoting Time 210 Axis denoting Temperature 215 GraphicalRepresentation of Temperature Schedule 220 Graphical Representation ofTemperature History 225 Other Data 230 Additional Controls 235 Buttons240 Stylus 300 Memory 400 Temperature Schedule Data Structure 500Temperature History Data Structure 600 Set-Point 700Actual-Temperature-Point 800 Conduits to Heating/Cooling Devices orThermostat

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the userinterface system for a comfort controller. The user interface systemincludes a central processing unit 100. This central processing unit 100is coupled to a display unit 200 and a memory 300. The display unit 200has a torch-sensitive screen which allows the user to input data withoutthe need for a keyboard or mouse. The memory 300 includes a temperatureschedule data structure 400, which is made up of one or more set-points600. The memory 300 may also include a temperature history datastructure 500, which is made up of one or more Actual-Temperature-Points700.

As previously mentioned, the display unit 200 includes a graphicaldisplay/touch sensitive screen. This configuration will provide for veryflexible graphical display of information along with a very userfriendly data input mechanism. The display unit 200 may be very similarto the touch screen display used in a hand-held personal digitalassistant (“PDA”), such as a Palm brand PDA manufactured by 3Com, aJornada brand PDA manufactured by Hewlett Packard, etc. Of course thegraphical user interface system could also be manufactured to beintegrated with a thermostat itself. In such an embodiment, atouch-sensitive LCD display is coupled with the thermostat's existingcentral processing unit and RAM.

The temperature schedule data structure 400 and temperature history datastructure 500 are data structures configured and maintained withinmemory 300. For example, the temperature schedule data structure 400 andtemperature history data structure 500 could be simple two-dimensionalarrays in which a series of times are associated to correspondingtemperatures. In FIG. 1, temperature schedule data structure 400 hasbeen configured to adjust the temperature to 60 degrees at 6:00 a.m.(see 600.1), then to 67 degrees at 6:30 (see 600.2), and up to 73degrees at 8:00 a.m. (see 600.3) etc. Temperature history data structure500 is shown to store the information that at 6:00 a.m. the actualtemperature was 60 degrees (see 700.1), and by 6:30 a.m., thetemperature had risen to 69 degrees (see 700.2).

Of course, the temperature schedule data structure 400 and temperaturehistory data structure 500 could also be more advanced data structurescapable of organizing more data. For example, the temperature scheduledata structure 400 could be configured to allow more than one scheduleto be programmed. One schedule could be assigned to run from Mondaythrough Friday while a second schedule could be assigned to run onSaturdays and Sundays. Alternately, different schedules could beassigned for each day of the week. Different schedules could be devisedand stored for the summer months and winter months as well.

Temperature history data structure 500 could be configured to store moreinformation, including historical information over a period of severaldays, weeks, or months. The data could be aggregated to show the averagetemperatures by time, day, or season. A person skilled in the art ofcomputer programming could readily devise these data structures.

The user interface system also has conduits 800 to the heating/coolingdevices or thermostats thereof so that user interface system cancommunicate with the thermostat or other comfort controller.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of one possible embodiment of the userinterface system. In FIG. 2, the user interface system has beeninstalled as an integral element of the thermostat wall unit. Thedisplay unit 200 of the user interface system displays the graphicalrepresentation of the temperature schedule 215 as well as the graphicalrepresentation of the temperature history graph 220. These graphicalrepresentations are presented as a graph in which one axis denotes time205 and the other axis denotes temperatures 210. The graphicalrepresentation of the temperature schedule 215 is shown in FIG. 2 as astep function. Other data 225 is also displayed, which could be thecurrent date, day of the week, time, indoor and/or outdoor relativehumidity, indoor and/or outdoor temperature, etc. The display unit 200could also represent the temperature schedule or history schedule informats other than a function on a graph. For example, the temperatureschedule could be shown as a listing of set-points. Or, the graph couldbe shown as a bar chart in which the length of the bars indicate thetemperature.

The display unit 200 can also be configured with additional controls230, which could, for example, switch the display between Fahrenheit andCelsius for the temperature, between standard and military time, andbetween showing a single day's schedule versus showing a week'sschedule. In addition to the controls programmed and displayed ondisplay unit 200, physical buttons of the thermostat 235 could beprogrammed to be used for working with the user interface system aswell. This is similar to the operation of a PDA.

The graphical representations, controls and other data that aredisplayed on display unit 200 is accomplished by a computer programstored in memory 300. The computer program could be written in anycomputer language. Possible computer languages to use include C, Java,and Visual Basic.

The operation of the user interface system is more intuitive thanprevious user interfaces for other thermal comfort controllers. Thevarious set-points 600 can displayed on the display unit 200 in agraphical format 215, such as in a step-function, bar chart, etc. In thestep-function embodiment, which is shown in FIG. 2, each line portion ofthe step-function line corresponds to a set-point in the temperatureschedule data structure 400. Because the display unit 200 istouch-sensitive, the user can use a finger or stylus 240 to“point-and-drag” any one of the vertical lines of the step-function,representing a time of day, to a different value to indicate a new timeat which to change the temperature. Similarly, the user can use a fingeror stylus 240 to “point-and-drag” any one of the horizontal lines,representing a temperature, to a different value to indicate a newtemperature to be maintained by the controller during that time period.When the user changes the graphical representation of the temperatureschedule 215, central processing unit 100 modifies the temperatureschedule data structure 400 to reflect these changes.

In some embodiments, the buttons 235 or additional controls 230 can beconfigured so that the user can perform additional programming. Forexample, one of the buttons 235 or additional controls 230 might causean alternate schedule to be displayed—such as one for the weekend—whichthe user can program. Or, pressing one of the buttons 235 or additionalcontrols 230 might cause the temperature history 500 to be displayed bythe display unit 200.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the temperature schedule215 could be displayed in other formats. Again, the step-function shownin FIG. 2 is just one of several ways to graphically display thetemperature schedule 215. It could also be shown as a list ofset-points, showing the time and temperature for each set-point. Or, ascroll bar or slider bar control could be displayed in which the usersimply adjusts the control to adjust the temperature. In such anembodiment, time could be displayed as a digital or analog clock, andthe user could modify such a clock control along with the temperaturecontrol in order to modify an existing or create a new set-point.

There are many ways in which the user interface system can work with thethermal comfort controller. The user interface system would probably beintegrated into a thermal comfort control system and installed on a wallmuch like current programmable thermostats. However, if the userinterface system is configured on a hand-held PDA, the user-interfacecould communicate with the thermal comfort controller via the PDA'sinfra-red sensor. Or, the PDA could be synchronized with a personalcomputer and the personal computer could set the appropriateinstructions to the thermal comfort controller. Or, the PDA could use acellular/mobile phone feature to telephone the controller (i.e.,thermostat, personal computer, etc.) to exchange pertinent and relevantdata.

From the foregoing detailed description, it will be evident that thereare a number of changes, adaptations and modifications of the presentinvention which come within the province of those skilled in the art.However, it is intended that all such variations not departing from thespirit of the invention be considered as within the scope thereof.

1. A method for programming a scheduled set point of a programmablethermostat having a touch screen as part of the thermostat, thethermostat adapted to sense a temperature at the location of thethermostat and to control an HVAC system in accordance with thescheduled set point, the scheduled set point having a time value and acorresponding temperature value, the method comprising the steps of:providing one or more touch regions at predefined known locations on thetouch screen for use in setting a time value and a correspondingtemperature value for the scheduled set point, both the time value andthe temperature value for the scheduled set point being simultaneouslydisplayed in a numerical format at predefined known locations on thetouch screen; monitoring the one or more touch regions for touching by auser; changing the time value for the scheduled set point if themonitoring step determines that the one or more touch regions associatedwith the time value have been touched; and changing the temperaturevalue for the scheduled set point at the predefined known location onthe touch screen for the temperature value while simultaneouslydisplaying the time value if the monitoring step determines that the oneor more touch regions associated with the temperature value have beentouched.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein one or more first controlelements are displayed at the predefined known locations of the one ormore touch regions that are associated with the time value.
 3. Themethod of claim 2 wherein at least one of the one or more first controlelements includes a scroll bar.
 4. The method of claim 2 wherein atleast one of the one or more first control elements includes a sliderbar.
 5. The method of claim 2 wherein one or more second controlelements are displayed at the predefined known locations of the one ormore touch regions that are associated with the temperature value. 6.The method of claim 5 wherein at least one of the one or more secondcontrol elements includes a scroll bar.
 7. The method of claim 5 whereinat least one of the one or more second control elements includes aslider bar.
 8. The method of claim 5 wherein at least one of the one ormore second control elements includes an icon representing a temperatureincrease and at least one other of the one or more second controlelements includes an icon representing a temperature decrease.
 9. Themethod of claim 2 wherein at least one of the one or more first controlelements includes an icon representing a time increase and at least oneother of the one or more first control elements includes an iconrepresenting a time decrease.
 10. The method of claim 2 wherein at leastone of the one or more first control elements includes a scroll bar or aslider bar.
 11. A programmable thermostat, comprising: a thermostathaving one or more scheduled set points, wherein each of the one or morescheduled set points includes a time value and a correspondingtemperature value, the thermostat further having a touch screen as partof the thermostat, and a temperature sensor for sensing the temperatureat the location of the thermostat; a memory for storing at least onetemperature schedule that includes the one or more scheduled set points;and a controller coupled to the memory, the touch screen and thetemperature sensor, the controller adapted accept a signal from thetemperature sensor, and control an HVAC system in accordance with the atleast one scheduled set points, the controller providing one or moretouch regions at predefined known locations on the touch screen for usein setting a time value and a corresponding temperature value for ascheduled set point, both the time value and the temperature value forthe scheduled set point being simultaneously displayed in a numericalformat at predefined known locations on the touch screen, the controllerfurther adapted to monitor the one or more touch regions of the touchscreen for touching by a user, and changing the time value for thescheduled set point if the controller determines that the one or moretouch regions associated with the time value have been touched, andchanging the temperature value for the scheduled set point at thepredefined known location on the touch screen for the temperature valuewhile simultaneously displaying the time value if the controllerdetermines that the one or more touch regions associated with thetemperature value have been touched.
 12. The programmable thermostat ofclaim 11 wherein one or more first control elements are displayed at thepredefined known locations of the one or more touch regions that areassociated with the time value.
 13. The programmable thermostat of claim12 wherein at least one of the one or more first control elementsincludes a scroll bar.
 14. The programmable thermostat of claim 12wherein at least one of the one or more first control elements includesa slider bar.
 15. The programmable thermostat of claim 12 wherein one ormore second control elements are displayed at the predefined knownlocations of the one or more touch regions that are associated with thetemperature value.
 16. The programmable thermostat of claim 15 whereinat least one of the one or more second control elements includes ascroll bar.
 17. The programmable thermostat of claim 15 wherein at leastone of the one or more second control elements includes a slider bar.18. The programmable thermostat of claim 15 wherein at least one of theone or more second control elements includes an icon representing atemperature increase and at least one other of the one or more secondcontrol elements includes an icon representing a temperature decrease.19. The programmable thermostat of claim 12 wherein at least one of theone or more first control elements includes an icon representing a timeincrease and at least one other of the one or more first controlelements includes an icon representing a time decrease.
 20. Theprogrammable thermostat according to claim 12 wherein at least one ofthe one or more first control elements includes a scroll bar or a sliderbar.
 21. The programmable thermostat of claim 11 wherein the controlleris adapted to ensure that the one or more scheduled set points of atleast one temperature schedule conform to a step type function.
 22. Theprogrammable thermostat of claim 11 wherein the one or more scheduledset points of at least one temperature schedule are expressed in atemperature schedule data structure stored in said memory.
 23. Theprogrammable thermostat of claim 22 wherein the controller modifies thetemperature schedule data structure to include the changed time valueand temperature value of the scheduled set point.
 24. A method forprogramming a scheduled set point of a programmable thermostat having atouch screen as part of the thermostat, the thermostat adapted to sensea temperature at the location of the thermostat and to control an HVACsystem in accordance with the scheduled set point, the scheduled setpoint having a time value and a corresponding temperature value, themethod comprising the steps of: providing a display image on the touchscreen, wherein the display image includes one or more touch regions atpredefined known locations on the touch screen for use in setting a timevalue and a corresponding temperature value for the scheduled set point,the time value having one or more associated touch regions at predefinedknown locations and the temperature value having one or more associatedtouch regions at predefined different known locations, the display imagesimultaneously displaying the time value and the temperature value forthe scheduled set point in a numerical format at predefined knownlocations on the touch screen; monitoring the one or more touch regionsfor touching by a user; and on a first touch of the one or more touchregions associated with the time value, changing the time value to adifferent value; and on a first touch of the one or more touch regionsassociated with the temperature value, changing the temperature value toa different value while simultaneously displaying the time value. 25.The method of claim 24, wherein the time value is changed to thedifferent value on the first touch of the one or more touch regionsassociated with the time value, without requiring the user to firstperform a separate touch step to select the time value.
 26. The methodof claim 24, wherein the temperature value is changed to the differentvalue on the first touch of the one or more touch regions associatedwith the temperature value, without requiring the user to first performa separate touch step to select the temperature value.